NEW DELHI: Concerned over repeated disruptions and adjournments in the Rajya Sabha during the Budget session, Chairman Venkaiah Naidu has constituted a two-member committee to review Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business to ensure smooth conduct of proceedings.
Desh Deepak Verma, Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha, said such a comprehensive review of rules was being undertaken for the first time. The committee comprises V K Agnihotri, former Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha, and S R Dhaleta, retired Joint Secretary and Legislative Counsel, Ministry of Law and Justice.
According to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, the need for a review was felt as over 120 working hours of a total of 165 were lost during the Budget session. “There is no specific provision for automatic suspension of members who persistently and wilfully obstruct House proceedings by shouting slogans or by coming into the Well, unlike Rule 374 (A) of the Lok Sabha Rules that provides for automatic suspension. So, the Chair is often left with no option but to adjourn the House if there is grave disorder,” Verma explained.
Disruptions also make it difficult to get Bills passed, he said. “The current Rules of Procedure relating to voting procedure on the Bill become inadequate in such a situation. Therefore, there is a need to amend such rules to make them effective and robust in future,” he said.
Moreover, there were differences in provisions of Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha Rules in certain matters, with some Upper House Rules being more precise than corresponding Lower House Rules and some inadequate and not very precise, he said. “Some of these Rules relate to Points of Order, Suspension of Rules, Discussion on Matters of Public Interest, and Notice of Privilege,” he said.The committee’s recommendations will be placed before the Rules Committee of the Rajya Sabha.